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Newsweek Wants Bigger Longer (Maybe Uncut too) Batteries

I ration. I admit it. I wish I don't have to but I don't have a choice. If you have a 3G device like the iPhone or G1 and you go nuts on it, by lunch, you're looking to charge up like a guy left on a desert island looking for dihydogen monoxide (DHMO) (it's water).

It's like Newsweek says, battery is the weakest link in a mobile device or any device for that matter. Our devices are smaller and faster. Smarter and closer every year to perfect mobile convergence of life and functions. And all these innovations and advancements are taking pace at a rapid pace year after year.

And yet, battery improvement takes place at a crawl. It's a good thing the USS Enterprise runs on a warp engine and not batteries or else Scotty would have ran up to the bridge long ago and put Kirk out of his misery for all the time he called down to engineering for "more power".

Millions are are being invested in battery technology and that can't happen fast enough. What do you want out of battery power? I know what I know. It's a bit idealistic and naive I think but I'm going to share it with all mobile warriors.

Ideally, 24 hours of heavy use. But realistically, I'll settle for 10-12 hours. And I'm not talking about dimming, turning off this and that to stretch hours of battery.

Allow me to truly be mobile. If telecommuting means going to the local coffee shop or anywhere else for half a day, I want my laptop to be running during that period if I can't find an outlet. Now, I know HP and Dell has laptops that has 12-24 hours of battery life. No. I want this for all laptops and mobile devices.

It has to be cheap. I wouldn't consider current laptop batteries cheap but I do hope cost will be on par with current batteries.

Fast charging. Maybe with a new chemical cocktail, this is possible.

I hope battery research will be a part of the new administration's agenda. It would go a long way in moving technology forward. Maybe if there is a bailout for the motor companies in Detroit, some dinero can go towards that end.